Just got back from 2 weeks near Antonito, Colorado. A lot of low power repeaters in use and the WalMart in Alamosa sells a 27" CRT set for $150.
Antonito has no cable tv and a lot of lower income homes. Only about 1/2 had sat service. The rest had UHF antennas pointed toward a repeater.
I could pick up New Mexico and Colorado analog uhf repeaters at my location. I may be dead wrong but I think there is still a market for $150 crt sets for kid's rooms, 3 set, 4th set or whatever. One or two flat screen's are ok for those with the money, but where each child has a set in their bedroom, flat and HD may not matter. Plus a 27" set has a big screen compared to a 26" 16x9 flat screen.

The local wally worlds near here still sell a 27" crt television - a crappy Sansui - for ~175$.

They also sell crappy 17-20" lcd sets, with and without built in dvd players for ~ 180 - 230$.

The only other crt sets I have ran across are factory refurbs at a local Fred's store - a 27" Sansui, and a Memorex 20" flat crt set.

I suspect most people will spring for the 17-20" lcd's at wall world.

I am anxiously awaiting the christmas sale flyers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really want one of those small lcd sets to hang in the kitchen - with the poor economy, I am predicting they will have these sets in the 140$ range on black friday.

I have not seen any ads yet, but I predict that before christmas you will see $279 to $299 32inch lcd sets and the 26 will be in the $179 to $199 range. The cheapest 32 inch set now is $328 and the cheapest 26 is $248.

Bill r

'they' want every citizen to own an atsc flatpanel tv and a cell phone. Then things will be ready.

I notice that each post in thread implies that TV sets with CRTs are analog TVs, and that flat panel sets are digital. That is not true. The type of tuner a set has is independent of the display technology (with only the loose co-relation of manufacture date assuring that many existing CRT sets, are, of course, analog-only).
A very few mid-decade CRT sets are HDTV sets (these were the first CRT sets to be discontinued under competition from flat panels).
CRT sets currently offered for sale in the US (unless they are really old stock) have digital tuners. They are not HD, but they receive ATSC digital broadcasts (whether HD or SD) and convert them to 480i (not to NTSC composite as a converter box does, rather comparable to a DVD player with component connection).
Conversely, there are used flat panel sets (from before roughly 2007) that have only an analog tuner. The label "HD ready" is a warning that the set lacks a digital tuner. Still other flat panels, technically called "monitors", but mistakenly labeled "TV", have no tuner at all.

I say this because I have heard so many stories of people throwing out perfectly good CRT sets because they are presumed to be obsolete. People are spending money on new sets they do not really need, and spending yet more money to run the new sets (which use more electricity than CRTs), as they fill the landfills with sets that work.

I haven't checked the local wally worlds yet but every other place I've checked no longer sells CRT's. My local Sears had a couple Sansui CRT sets right up to around the DTV conversion. I really don't know why they've stopped making CRT TV's with the DTV converter built in. It's not like CRT technology became obsolete with the advent of LCD and Plazma etc. I personally will never buy a flat pannel TV untill I can't find another CRT.

I notice that each post in thread implies that TV sets with CRTs are analog TVs, and that flat panel sets are digital. That is not true. The type of tuner a set has is independent of the display technology (with only the loose co-relation of manufacture date assuring that many existing CRT sets, are, of course, analog-only).
A very few mid-decade CRT sets are HDTV sets (these were the first CRT sets to be discontinued under competition from flat panels).
CRT sets currently offered for sale in the US (unless they are really old stock) have digital tuners. They are not HD, but they receive ATSC digital broadcasts (whether HD or SD) and convert them to 480i (not to NTSC composite as a converter box does, rather comparable to a DVD player with component connection).
Conversely, there are used flat panel sets (from before roughly 2007) that have only an analog tuner. The label "HD ready" is a warning that the set lacks a digital tuner. Still other flat panels, technically called "monitors", but mistakenly labeled "TV", have no tuner at all.

I say this because I have heard so many stories of people throwing out perfectly good CRT sets because they are presumed to be obsolete. People are spending money on new sets they do not really need, and spending yet more money to run the new sets (which use more electricity than CRTs), as they fill the landfills with sets that work.

You have to look far & wide to find any new retail CRT sets here in SoCal, but I did see some at Walmart a few weeks ago. They had big stickers on them warning that you need the converter box to pick anything up. There are sure a lot of people (including my wife & me), who just can't find a non-tube set that has a watchable picture. They just look lousy to us. Therefore, we are taking advantage of the yuppie CRT sell-off on Craigslist, and have gotten a few Sony XBR flat-tube TVs for pennies on the dollar, including a couple of the great 40" flat tube sets, and a flat 16:9 1080i HDTV model that blows any LCD or plasma right out of the water! We're all set. Also just picked up a Toshiba 27" flat tube set for the breakfast room with built-in DVD & VCR for $60, mint condition, 2 years old, and smells like new plastic. I'll keep a watch out, and will squirrel away more for the future, keeping in mind that they'll go bad if they sit too long unused.

I have the feeling that as with phonographs and with vacuum tube audio, high-end companies will once again produce CRT TVs for the videophile, who will pay the price.

Charles

Damn, I assumed everyone knew differences between analog and digital technologies.

Don't take me wrong. I LIKE high def tv, although I do not currently own one. But the televisions I really ENJOY watching are my mid 70's through 80's crt sets.

I recently bought a Digital Stream converter at RatShack(paid the extra 6$ for the extended warranty also, 'cause i figure it will last 6mo + 1 day !!!) and the signal/picture produced is absolutely incredible - a pleasure to watch!!!

But I do hope the prices on those little cheap 18 - 20 inch lcd sets drops drastically at Christmas time - that way I can justify hanging one on a kitchen wall so I can watch the continuous loop weather channels on wpsd and kfvs as I am having morning coffee. I've got a closet full of crt sets, just don't want to take up room in the kitchen for one of them.

Most people nowadays dont care as much about picture quality as they care about keeping up with the Jones. If their neighbor gets a flat panel then they have to have one.They also have to have something new every time they turn around. One thing I find funny is how CRT tvs suddenly take up too much room. Rooms in new houses are bigger then they ever have been. People had great big consoles in houses with much smaller rooms.
John

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Most people nowadays dont care as much about picture quality as they care about keeping up with the Jones. If their neighbor gets a flat panel then they have to have one.They also have to have something new every time they turn around. One thing I find funny is how CRT tvs suddenly take up too much room. Rooms in new houses are bigger then they ever have been. People had great big consoles in houses with much smaller rooms.
John

That about sums it up and I know a lot of people that fit that description. They think owning all the latest new gadgets makes them "somebody" and it would be an embarrassment for their uptown friends (or, in some cases, wannabe uptown friends) to come over and see "outdated" things.

As for my home, I'm not embarrassed in the least and I'm certainly not trying to keep up with anyone. If someone comes over here and gets turned off because I watch a 30 year old 19" TV, listen to a 30+ year old stereo; that's fine. They can leave and not come back.

It wasn't that many years ago that console TV's were easy to get rid of at a decent price. Now, I can't give them away.

As the OP, I probably should have stated that the sets at Wally World in Alamosa, CO did have both analog and digital tuners. My big surprise in that part of Colorado, especially the Antonito area, was that 1/2 the homes only source of tv was analog uhf. Antonito appeared to be a low income area. My experience with flat screen TV's has been that they don't do that great of a job with analog signals.

Another surprise was that we saw 2 restaurants and a lodge with only generator power. Same for several newer cabins/houses. And these were along a paved highway. There were no electric lines along that part of the highway and I guess you are just out of luck is you build in an area like that. Now go up to a 90 year old mining town, 23 miles off the highway and they have electricity.

I live in Memphis, TN, and I think 98% of the homes have satellite or cable service.

Be careful with that one. Toshiba has been outsourcing to Orion (Emerson) for the last few years. It may not be bad, but it's nothing compared to a real Toshiba.

You're correct, and I agree on the "real Toshiba" sets being among the best sets for reliability and ease of repair. This one we picked up is a cheapie Korean set, but at least it has a nice tube in it, and my wife is happy :thmbsp: . Her other one; the same set but 24", had the remote receiver quit working, and I found a cold solder joint in the power supply. I'm frankly surprised that I haven't had to make more repairs, based on my experience with Emersons of the 80s & 90s.

Charles

People are... spending yet more money to run the new sets (which use more electricity than CRTs)
LCD sets use less electricity than a CRT screen of the same size.

Best Buy has put their 19" LCD HDTV on sale for $150 before, and I suspect we will see numerous sets at that price in November. The return of the $99 color TV is probably not far off, either, and this time it will be an HDTV.

And when that happens on a permanent basis, we might as well just stop trying to unload any type of CRT set. At least now, there is some demand for used CRT sets from people who can't afford and don't want to go in debt for a new TV. Most of the general public is not going to give even $10 for a used 19" CRT set when they can get a new 19" LCD HDTV for $100. I guess it's just as well. I can get rid of, for good, all this BPC and have more room for old stuff.